Hillsborough inquests - April 9

The Hillsborough inquests commenced on March 31, 2014 and are the subject of reporting restrictions that have been imposed by the Attorney General's office. Liverpool Football Club is respectful of these restrictions and will therefore only be making available updates from other media channels for the duration of the inquest.

Courtesy of Press Association

The sister of one of the 96 Liverpool football fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster has said her brother was brought up to respect the police but "when he most needed their help, they literally turned their backs on him".

Louise Brookes made the comments as she paid tribute to her brother Andrew Brookes at the new inquests into the 1989 tragedy.

She said: "Andrew was brought up to respect the police and my parents always told us that if ever we were in trouble, they were always there to help us.

"When my brother most needed their help, they literally turned their backs on him."

Ms Brookes told the 11 jurors she had buried her father just 10 days before the new inquests began last week.

"It makes me so angry that both my parents have both gone to their graves without knowing how or why their son died," she said.

"No person should ever be deprived of that right, especially for 25 years. I don't have any other family left now and it's up to me alone to fight for my brother."

Ms Brookes said: "I just want to do my brother proud and get him the justice he deserves.

"I didn't just lose my brother on April 15, 1989, I lost my parents too. The whole Brookes family died that day.

"I don't live, I exist, and I exist for one reason only: to make sure that my brother's life was not in vain."

She said her brother, who was from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and was 26 when he died, had never been in any trouble in his life.

Her statement was one of a series of "pen portraits" which are forming the first section of evidence in the new inquests, taking place in a purpose-built courtroom in Warrington, Cheshire.

The coroner, Lord Justice Goldring, has ordered that the first few weeks of the inquests will be set aside for each family to provide background tributes to the 96 Liverpool fans who died after a crush developed before the start of the FA Cup semi-final match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.

On the fourth day of family statements, many of those reading them struggled to hold back the tears.

At one point, jury members sent a note to the coroner saying that they did not mind if the witnesses wanted time to compose themselves.

A tribute to Alan McGlone, written by his wife Irene, was read by one of their two daughters, Amy.

Recalling the night of April 15, 1989, Mrs McGlone said: "That night I had to put the girls to bed, kiss them good night and as, I was walking out of the room, Amy sat up and said 'Mummy, will you tell Daddy to come in and wake us up when he gets home?'

"I am still waiting to wake my girls out of this nightmare and send their daddy in to them."

Ms McGlone struggled to compose herself and had to be comforted by her sister, Claire, as she told jurors how her machinery repairer father had missed out on the family life he loved.

"The sad thing is that he never got to see his own girls grow up," she said. "And never got to see his beautiful grandchildren."

Stephen Clark, reading a tribute written by his mother Jacqueline Gilchrist - the widow of Joseph Clark - said: "He was only 29 years old with his whole life in front of him.

"Life has never been the same since he died that horrible day.

"Our whole lives changed and I never really got on with my life."

Mr Clark had to pause a number of times as he read his mother's words describing how his father never got to meet his three "beautiful" grandchildren.

"Joseph lived life to the full. He was always happy-go-lucky and forever with a smile on his face," he said.

Paul Brady, 21, was planning a holiday with friends in Australia when he died, the jury was told.

His brother Michael, reading a statement from his mother, Marian, said: "He was fun-loving, the joker in our family. Always smiling and such a joy to be around. And it goes without saying that we all miss him to this day."

Mr Brady added: "Paul was extremely popular. He was a great communicator. He loved to socialise and was very much a people person."

Martin Thompson recalled that his brother, Stuart, was only 17 years old when he died.

"He had the world at his feet at the time of his death," Mr Thompson said.

"He was an apprentice joiner and he was determined to be a success."

He said: "He was no longer a child but he wasn't yet an adult. He didn't have time to blossom."

Amid the tears there was also laughter as Mr Thompson recalled how his nature-loving brother terrified his mother by ordering snakes through the post and then swapping them for a ferret he kept under his bed.

And he provoked more chuckles in the court as he contrasted how they would go to football matches for 90p at the end of the 1980s rather than the £50 he said it now costs supporters.

Julie Fallon said her security guard brother Andrew Sefton's life was like a book which had been started but "then someone ripped out the rest of the pages".

Ms Fallon said the disaster had dominated her family's life for the last 25 years and added: "We no longer have an inkling of what life without Hillsborough looks like and, ironically, neither did my brother."